"Who's 50?"

Aunt Becky, that's who! We made the voyage to the Bavarian Grill for some fun and, more importantly, beets! Those Bavarians use beets in like everything they make! I wish I liked beets more. According to WebMD, every part of the beet is good for you. But man...one day when I was a kid, I saw a plate of beets and thought it was J-ello. Needless to say, I was hugely disappointed (and grossed out) after taking a bite. But I ramble so...here are some pics to take the place of actually going to Bavaria (and saving you some $$$ in the process):

Leiderhosen!

I joked with my cousin that I was going to get mine out of storage for the big night. I think she knew I was kidding.

Steins!

Makes me want to start drinking beer after seeing all of these in the window. Fortunately, I soon remembered how much I hate beer and chose not to spend the $50 on a stein.

Spaten Munchen?

Huh? I Googled what that was and as it turns out...it's beer! Boy, did not see that coming.

The Mad Hatter!

I had to wear a similar hat on my 30th birthday...only it was black...geez, people acted like someone died or something.

We're the only species that celebrates birthdays. We're also the only species that doesn't put survival at the top of the list every time they wake up. We think about our job, our family, even our possessions but not, "Is this the day something eats me?" Us and maybe basset hounds. You ever watch them? They don't care about anything. They just lay there, content with whatever life automatically gives them. I think we take that for granted. But then again, how can we not? Who would eat us? The dinosaurs maybe. Last time I checked, Jurassic Park is still years away from becoming a reality.

One thing I've managed to learn in my 34+ years is that the human race is never content just to let things be. In 100 years we went from the Model A car which you had to handcrank to start it and no windows or trunk to the cars today which you don't even need keys for and you can't hear it even when it's running. We took the Walkman of the 1980's with it's huge buttons and was the size of a car battery and made the iPod Touch which is the size of a credit card and doesn't even have buttons. It is this driving force that will eventually eliminate cancer from ever being talked about again. We will reach this point, I assure you. I'm predicting it right now. We have drugs that can cut off the blood supply for brain tumours, rendering them non-existent. We have the CyberKnife, a laser instrument so precise it can actually cut cancerous tissue out of someone without touching anything else. One thing I'm dying to ask God someday is why cancer? It is a devastating illness that no one is immune to, and it puts families through so much heartache and financial havoc and takes family members away much too fast. Some manage to beat it, only to get it again and again. If God needs some people more then others in His kingdom sooner then others, why doesn't He just take them? To quote a repsectable newspaper's slogan, "Inquiring minds want to know!"